There's no Zinc in Jefferson Nickels. Other than War Nickels they're composed of .750 copper and .250 nickel. I'm no expert but I've never seen a clipped coin that looks like that. IMO it's damaged. As always, wait for more opinions.
As far as I know, clipped coins are generally pretty even along the clip. Mechanically, they MUST be perfectly crescent shaped.
It looks like it was used in a electroplating experiment with all the discoloration and the uneven edge. I do not think it is a mint error coin. It really is just an ugly nickel.
Ok thanks. It just seemed odd to me, and I could not see how it could get broken like that without being bent in some way.
Maybe subjected to extremely low temperatures (liquid oxygen or some such thing) and then struck, breaking that section off? Just a thought. When I was in the Air Force, the guys refilling the aircrafts liquid oxygen (-297º) would sometimes freeze a steel tool and strike it just to watch it shatter. Bored for sure. LOL
Broken planchet? Ragged clip? Maybe just too ugly to tell with any certainty. Probably just damage as others have indicated. I’ll save it anyway and throw it in the “Most likely damaged, but still neat anyway” stash.